DZS (Croatian Bureau of Statistics)

Spatial Statistics Directorate

Transport Statistics Department

Branimirova 19, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

The statistics are compiled and transmitted quarterly to Eurostat. The data collection follows the provisions of the following legal acts:

National: Annual Implementation Plan of Statistical Activities of the Republic of Croatia

EU: Regulation (EC) No 70/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 January 2012 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods by road (recast).

Road freight data collection consists of three datasets with quarterly periodicity:
1. Vehicle related variables dataset for a sample of road good motor vehicles contain data on age of the vehicle, the economic activity of the owner or user of the vehicle, the total kilometres loaded or empty, possibility of using vehicle for combined transport, axle configuration, maximum permissible laden weight, load capacity.
2. Journey related variables dataset contain data on weight of goods, regions of loading and unloading, distance driven, tonne-kilometres performed during a journey, countries crossed in transit, place of loading/unloading on other means of transport, degree of loading
3. Goods related variables dataset contain data on type of goods transported and their weight and distance travelled, regions of loading and unloading, type of dangerous goods.

Statistics on carriage of goods by road apply the following statistical classifications:

• The type of goods transported by road was collected, until reference year 2007 (included), according to the 24 groups of goods following the "Standard Goods Classification for Transport Statistics/Revised (NST/R )". From 2008 onwards, goods have been classified according to "Standard goods classification for transport statistics 2007, NST 2007".
• regional coding is done in conformity with European legislation: "NUTS Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics" (see also NUTS).
• Economic activity class of the vehicle owner is an optional variable. Data were collected according to NACE Rev. 1 until the end of 2007. From the beginning of 2008 onwards, the economic activity has been classified according to NACE Rev. 2 ( "Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community, Rev. 2 (NACE Rev. 2)").
• Type of dangerous goods is a mandatory variable, but it is reported only for those goods that fall into this category. The classification is based on "European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road", Chapter 2.1, as published in Annex E of Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/98. Directive 2008/68/EC makes reference to ADR as regards the transport of dangerous goods by road.
• The optional variable type of cargo follows the Classification of Cargo Types of UNECE (United Nations, Economic Commission for Europe - codes for types of cargo, packages and packaging materials, Recommendation 21 adopted by the Working Party on Facilitation of International Trade Procedures, Geneva, March 1986).

Commercial road freight transport (National Classification of Activities), referred to as "Hire or reward" road freight transport. Road freight transport by private vehicles and by vehicles owned by companies classified in other classes. This kind of transport is identified as "own account" road freight in order to satisfy production or service needs within the framework of business activities. The survey is conducted by using the sample method.

The main concepts used in Road freight statistics are the following, more details can be found in the Road freight transport methodology manual : 

A goods road motor vehicle is any single road transport vehicle (lorry), or combination of road vehicles, namely road train (lorry with trailer) or articulated vehicle (road tractor with semi-trailer), designed to carry goods
National transport is road transport between two places (a place of loading and a place of unloading) located in the same country by a vehicle registered in that country. 
International transport is road transport between two places (a place of loading and a place of unloading) in two different countries and cabotage by road. It may involve transit through one or more additional country or countries.
Cross-trade is international road transport between two different countries performed by a road motor vehicle registered in a third country.
Transit is any loaded or empty road motor vehicle, which enters and leaves a country at different points by whatever means of transport, provided the total journey within the country is by road and that there is no loading or unloading in the country.
Goods carried by road are any goods moved by goods vehicle
Place of loading/unloading of a goods road vehicle on another mode of transport

• Place of loading (of the goods road transport vehicle on another mode of transport): The place of loading is the first place where the goods road motor vehicle was loaded on to another mode of transport (usually a ship or a rail wagon).
• Place of unloading (of the goods road transport vehicle from another mode of transport): The place of unloading is the last place where the goods road motor vehicle was unloaded from another mode of transport (usually a ship or a rail wagon).

Statistical monitoring units are selected freight road vehicle (including road tractors) with carrying capacity of over 3.5 t that are registered with the Ministry of Interior. Reporting units are business entities (legal entities and natural persons) who own or just use a freight road vehicle selected into the sample.

The survey covers road freight motor vehicles with carrying capacity of over 3.5 t. Excluded are agricultural vehicles, military vehicles, special purpose vehicles.

The data provides information of the transport operations performed by Croatian heavy road goods vehicles regardless of wherever territory they occur.

All datasets have been provided according to the legal act starting from 2008 reference year.

Not applicable.

Data are collected in tonnes, tonne-kilometres and vehicle-kilometres.

The time unit is one week, the time units covered in a year are 52 weeks. Annual data are summed up from the quarterly data.

The road data are collected on a quarterly basis and reported to Eurostat five months after the end of the reference period.

National level:

• Annual Implementation Plan of Statistical Activities of the Republic of Croatia
• Official Statistics Act (Official Gazette, No. 25/20)
• Programme of Statistical Activities of the Republic of Croatia

European level: 

REGULATION (EU) N° 70/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 January 2012 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods by road (recast).

National level :

Not applicable

From Eurostat :

Eurostat submits annually semi-aggregated data (data exchange tables, see Commission Regulation (EU) No 202/2010 amending the Commission Regulation (EC) 6/2003) back to the reporting countries so that they can compile the total road freight transport on their national territories, including the operations by national hauliers and also those of all other reporting countries.

These data exchange tables include more detailed breakdowns than the publicly available tables. They also include, for each value, the information on the number of observations that the estimates are based on. In this way, the reporting countries can estimate the reliability of results that they aggregate from the data exchange tables.

National level:

• Official Statistics Act (Official Gazette, No. 25/20)
• Ordinance on the access to confidential statistical data
• Ordinance on Conditions and Terms of Using Confidential Statistical Data for Scientific Purposes

European level:

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

Rules of minimum number of units in aggregates - if the value is based on less of 10 vehicle records data are confidential. Rules does not apply to aggregates in multidimensional tables for selected variables "Good transported and tonne kilometres in national transport according the type of goods and purpose of transport" and "Goods transported and tonne kilometres in national transport according to NUTS" and "International transport according to type of goods and country of loading and unloading.

Release calendar contains the review of publications planned to be issued in current year and by the end of May for next year, which depends on when the processing of a particular statistical survey can be finished and on whether it is feasible to make a particular kind of publication or not. Data on road freight transport statistics is published quarterly 45 days after the reference quarter in the form of a first release.

Calendar of Statistical Data Issues 2023

In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Croatian Bureau of Statistics disseminates statistics on road freight respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. Main results of road freight statistics are available free of charge to all users. At the release data road freight transport statistics is available to all users at the same time.

Road freight transport statistics first results are published quarterly 45 days after the reference quarter and the annual detailed data are published 8 months after the reference year.

The First Release "Transport" - quarterly data

Aggregated data on the level of the Republic of Croatia on the total tonnes carried and tonne kilometres (total, national, international dispatched, international received, cross-trade) and total tonnes carried and tonne kilometres in road transport for hire or reward and own account.

The First Release "Transport" - quarterly data

Data are not published in online databases.

Data are not available for microdata access.

Statistics in Line – quarterly data on road freight transport at the level of the Republic of Croatia, annual detailed data by type of goods, by body type of vehicles, by distance carried, by type of cargo, by country of loading/unloading

Statistical information – annual data on road freight transport

Croatia in figures – annual data on road freight transport

National characteristics of surveys, conducted in the reporting countries in 2017, were published in Methodologies used in surveys of road freight transport in Member States, EFTA and Candidate Countries. This latter publication also contains data on response rates, vehicle registers' quality, sampling rates and statistical errors in surveys carried out in 2016.

Publications with corresponding methodological explanations available at Transport | Državni zavod za statistiku (dzs.hr) which is prepared for the data collection at national level.

The data on quality are stored in the CBS database of quality information (DBQI).

The main tool for the systematic quality assessment and quality management is the CBS database on quality information (DBQI). The DBQI has in first stage the Basic analytical tool for comparative analyses of quality indicators and later will contain Advanced analytical tool for comparative analyses of quality indicators.

Standard methods and definitions of quality (standard error, response rate, quality of vehicle register) are used in the survey. A standard error of micro data shall not be greater than 5%. Response rate should be at least 90%, and quality of vehicle register 80%.

The key users of road freight transport statistics are National Accounts Department, Eurostat, DG MOVE, State institutions, enterprises, research and scientific community, journalists etc.

No survey on user needs has been conducted.

Operations by small goods vehicles with carrying capacity of less than 3.5 tonnes are not included in the survey, which is in line with European regulations and Eurostat methodology.

Statistical survey on Road Transport of Goods is conducted on a sample basis. The percentage standard error of the annual total and national transport estimates is in 5%.

The percentage standard error (95% confidence) of the annual estimates for tonne transported, tonne kilometres performed and total kilometres travelled loaded for total goods transport and for national goods road transport must not exceed 5%.

Overcoverage rate represents the number of vehicles included in the sample but not actually belonging to the target population. There are vehicles that for some reason do not perform transport activities. Vehicles included in the overcoverage are vehicles out of operation, vehicles temporarily out of operation, vehicles with load capacity of less than 3.5 tonnes and vehicles that do not perform transport activities.

Non-response is the failure of a survey to collect data on all survey variables from all the population units in a sample. The difference between the statistics computed from the collected data and those that would be computed were there no missing values is the non-response error. The number of non-response includes vehicles for which no reports were received or for which reporting units refused to submit a response.

Load capacity of vehicles is an indicator for a type of shares concerning units classified into wrong categories. According to respondent's information, some vehicles are off the limits of loading capacity of a certain stratum so they are moved to the other stratum.

During the processing stage, incorrect use of planned methods of processing may occur, especially concerning the coding of response data provided in free text format. Visual check and comparison with other data sources may help to minimise errors.

Data are normally updated once per quarter.

All the statistics required by the provisions of the Regulation 70/2012 are transmitted to Eurostat at latest 5 months after the reference quarter.

Road freight data are transmitted to Eurostat within 5 months after the end of the reference period, as specified in the Regulation (EU) 70/2012.

The geographical coherence of HR data with other member states is very good.

Length of comparable time series of 2001 onwards for top aggregated level of data, but all datasets have been provided to Eurostat from 2008 reference year.

Road freight statistics are different from those of other transport modes and the most important characteristics are that the values are estimates based on sample surveys and that each country reports on it's hauliers operations all over the distance carried, not just on the territory of the reporting country. The identification of non-sampling errors in road freight statistics requires the use of external data sources. Data on cross-border traffic of freight vehicles and goods are used for comparation.

Not applicable

Number of questionnaires per year (total) is 18 200. Time spent to fill in a questionnaire is 23 minutes. Envelopes and postal costs are on respondents.

Provisional figures are not published in this survey and therefore regular revisions are not planned.

Deadline for the publication of first quarterly results of road freight data is 45 days after the end of the quarter.

Provisional figures are not published in this survey and therefore regular revisions are not planned. Unplanned revisions are caused by events that could not be predicted and that are impossible to prevent (subsequent changes in data sources or subsequently identified errors in previously submitted data) are generally disseminated as soon as possible.

Sampling register used for the survey

Name of register:

Database of registered road motor vehicles

Name of organisation who maintains the register:

Ministry of Interior

Frequency of update:

Continuously

Frequency of access to draw the samples:

Once a quarter

Arrangements for accessing the register:

Bilateral agreement between the Croatian Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of the Interior for providing statistical information.

Ministry of Interior transmits part of the register with all motor goods vehicles once a quarter in compliance with the Annual Implementation Plan of Statistical Activities. After receiving the data on registered vehicles, the Department for Programming creates a database with necessary data and then match the data with the Statistical Business Register and other consulting databases in order to take over addresses and other data on vehicles owners and their main activity.

Information obtained from the register:

Database of registered road motor vehicles: registration mark, type of vehicle, body type, main use of vehicle, mark of vehicle, made in year, load capacity, maximum permissible weight, name and address of owner of vehicle, number of axles, type of the owner.

Statistical Business Register: main activity of the operator.

Used in stratification: load capacity.

Procedure for reminders:

Since 2019, we have been collecting data via paper and web questionnaires

First reminder for web questionnaire: sent 5 days after the end of reference period.

First reminder for paper questionnaire and the second reminder for web questionnaire: sent 10 days after the end of reference period

Phone reminder for paper and web questionnaire: 18 days after the end of reference period non-respondents are reminded by phone.

Data are collected weekly.

Sampling methodology

Statistical unit:

Tractive vehicle

Types of units excluded:

Agricultural vehicles, military and public service vehicles and special purpose vehicle such as truck cranes, fire-engine vehicles, road maintenance vehicles and other special purpose vehicles.

Vehicles with load capacity less than 3.5 tonnes.

Time unit:

1 week

Time unit of quarter 1 of 2023 included in the survey:

All (13 weeks)

Stratification:

The sample for each stratum was chosen by a systematic random method. The systematic selection made it possible to do the implicit stratification by county and type of owner (tradesmen, enterprises). Moreover, in that way it was also possible to achieve a better geographical dissemination of the sample. The unbiased Horvitz-Thompson assessor was used in the method.

1 – lorries 3.50 - 4.99 tonnes of load capacity

2 – lorries 5.00 - 9.99 tonnes of load capacity

3 – lorries 10.00 - 11.99 tonnes of load capacity

4 – lorries 12.00 - 14.99 tonnes of load capacity

5 – lorries 15.00 and over tonnes of load capacity

6 – road tractors

Recording of weight of goods:

Gross weight of goods is collected, i.e. weight of containers, swap bodies and pallets are excluded.

Recording of journey data sent to Eurostat:

Single stop: In case of carrying more than one type of goods, respondents can record only the type of good with the largest weight.

Multi stop: recorded by vertical stages. In case of carrying more than one type of good, respondents can record only the type of goods with the largest weight. 

Collection/delivery: In case of carrying more than one type of goods, respondents can record only the type of good with the largest weight. Collection/delivery journeys are recorded only for national transport.

Calculation of weighting factors:

N = number of vehicles in the register (in a stratum)

S = number of questionnaires used in analysis (in A1 dataset)

S’= number of vehicles for which no activity was recorded, but vehicles could be considered as active (holiday, no work, etc.), scrapped, final or temporally out of operation, not performing transport activity anymore.

Optional variables covered:

• Vehicle empty kilometres
• Type of cargo
• Vehicle operator’s NACE category of activity
• Axle configuration
• Degree of loading of the vehicle
• Possibility of using vehicles for combined transport

Additional variables collected compared to the legal requirements:

Environmental impact related variables:

Fuel purchased.

A1. Vehicle-related variables: none

A2. Journey-related variables: none

A3. Goods-related variables: none

National level :

Logical calculation control is carried out during the data entry (interactive approach). There is a possibility of accepting some warnings. Some errors cannot be defined in advance, because they depend on the situation on the hauliers activities. Micro data are weighted and aggregated data are compared to previous quarters and the time series are checked. Precision calculations are regularly validated.

From Eurostat :

Since 1999, micro-data from the reporting countries have to be submitted according to Commission Regulation 2163/2001. The data are then checked and validated by EUROSTAT (verification of many different codes used (NUTS 3, numeric or alphabetic variables) correctness of linked questionnaires in the different dataset, etc ). Detected errors are then reported back to the data sender with the request for correction, this is an iterative process until at least 99.5% of all data records are validated and loaded in the database.

After various plausibility checks, the data received from owner or user of vehicles are compiled into quarterly data following the structure of the data sets which are present by regulation (EC) 70/2012. Data are aggregated on country level and level of counties (according to the head office of hauliers).

Road freight data are not seasonally adjusted.

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